ABSTRACT
The productivity problem of the industry will find its way to the top of our own individual priority list the next time we and/or our family enter a hospital. The productivity problem of the hospital industry hits us directly in our pocket. The health care environment today of increased competition, cutback of federal monies, prospective reimbursement, scarcity of qualified personnel, as well as the changing characteristics of that work force, is posing many challenges for the hospital administrator in a time of general marketplace uncertainty and change. The National Commission on Productivity and Work Quality was established in 1975 and included high ranking leaders from business, labor, government, and public representation. The inability of the hospital care sector of the US economy to profit from labor-saving technology poses serious difficulties. In other sectors of the economy where there are significant output-per-man-hour increases, wages will be able to rise in order to compensate employees for their increased productivity.
